Fill or effect material

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for producing, in bulk, long tailed neps, the apparatus including a housing supporting a main rotor the periphery of which has a plurality of teeth and beaters which co-operate with teeth on a set of feed rollers mounted in the housing alongside the periphery of the main rotor, the housing having an intake chute and a closeable discharge door, the arrangement being such that, in use, a synthetic or material fibrous material fed to the intake chute, while the discharge door is closed, is fed into the housing by the feed rollers, the fibrous material being removed by the beaters and teeth of the rotor from the feed rollers, the fibrous material being spun in the housing and the interaction between the teeth and the beaters of the main rotor and the teeth of the feed rollers causing the fibrous material to be entangled and felted to form a plurality of long tailed neps which are discharged from the housing when the discharge door is opened.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the production of a fill or effect materialand more particularly to an apparatus for producing a fill or effectmaterial.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

The fill or effect materials are long tailed neps and these have beenmanufactured in the mechanism described in U.S. patent specification No.4,761,857. The fill or effect material is sold by the applicantslicensees under the trade mark "soft knops". The mechanism described inU.S. patent specification No. 4,761,857 is a modified wooden openingmechanism and although the material can be produced satisfactorily onthis type of machine there is a need in the market place for a purposebuilt machine for producing in bulk the long tailed neps.

An object of the present invention is therefore to provide an apparatusfor producing in bulk long tailed neps.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparant from the following description which is given by way of exampleonly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a broadest aspect of the invention there is provided anapparatus for producing, in bulk, long tailed neps, the apparatusincluding a housing supporting a main rotor, the periphery of which hasa plurality of teeth and beaters which co-operate with teeth on a set offeed rollers mounted in the housing alongside the periphery of the mainrotor, the housing having an intake chute and a closeable dischargedoor, the arrangement being such that, in use, a synthetic or fibrousmaterial fed to the intake chute, while the discharge door is closed, isfed into the housing by the feed rollers, the fibrous material beingremoved by the beaters and teeth of the rotor from the feed rollers, thefibrous material being spun in the housing and the interaction betweenthe teeth and the beaters of the main rotor and the teeth of the feedrollers causing the fibrous material to be entangled and felted to forma plurality of long tailed neps which are discharged from the housingwhen the discharge door is opened.

The size of the long tailed neps depends on the degree of mesh of theco-operating teeth and their relative spacing.

The feed rollers can be a set of worker and stripper rollers. One of thestripper rollers can be fluted.

The main rotor is adapted to remove the fibrous material from the feedrollers by providing teeth and flexible beaters on the periphery of therotor, the teeth and beaters in operation ensure that most of thefibrous material on the worker roller is removed and formed in thehousing into the long tailed neps.

Further aspects of the invention which should be considered in all itsnovel aspects will become apparent from the following description whichis given by way of example only.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is in side elevation of an apparatus according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a typical section through part of the apparatus shown in FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a detail on an enlarged scale of the worker and stripper feedrollers interacting with the main rotor.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference tothe production of long tailed neps of the type shown in FIG. 5 of U.S.patent specification No. 4,761,857.

In the accompanying FIGS. 1 to 3 is shown an apparatus according to theinvention which includes a housing 1 which is cylindrical and mountedwith its longitudinal axis horizontal.

The housing 1 has mounted across its top an inlet 2 which extends acrossthe full width of the housing 1. The inlet 2 has an intake chute portion3 at the housing end of which is mounted a set of worker/stripper feedrollers generally indicated by arrow 4 (FIGS. 2 and 3).

The housing 1 has a discharge door 5 which is connected to an outletchute 6 an open end 7 of which is directed toward a collection cage 8.

In the example a set of three rollers forms the worker/stripper feedrollers 4. The rollers 4 are mounted with their axes horizontal and twoof the rollers are stripper rollers 9 between which is a singlecentrally mounted worker roller 10. The teeth on the rollers 9 and 10can be hook shaped inside elevation as shown in FIG. 3 and are mountedin parallel rows. The teeth on the rollers 9 and 10 are preferablyspaced apart so that the rotating stripper rollers 9 remove fibers fromthe worker roller 10. Some of the fibers drop into the housing 1.

In an alternative construction (not shown) the feed roller 9 on thedischarge door side of the housing 1 is a fluted roller.

The housing 1 has mounted therein a main rotor 11 driven by motor 12.The rotor 11 has a high rotational speed relative to that of the workerand stripper feed rollers. The rotor 11 is preferably driven at about900 rpm but this depends on the diameter of the rotor or housing and therotational speed can be varied to suit the end product produced byproviding for variations in the rotational speed of the motor 12.

The worker and stripper rollers 10 and 9 respectively rotate at a slowspeed and speed thereof is advantageously controlled automatically toensure an even input of fibers from the intake chute 3 to the housing 1to ensure that the motor 12 is not overloaded

The main rotor 11 has a plurality of teeth 13 which interact with theteeth on the worker roller 10 to remove during processing some of thefibers

The main rotor 11 also includes a series of beaters 14 on the trailingedges 15 of the arm 16. The beaters are preferably constructed from aflexible material, for example, strips of leather. As shown in FIG. 3,beaters 14 and teeth 13 are rotated in an opposite direction relative toteeth on worker roller 10. Thus, a coarse carding action occurs betweenthe respective teeth and the beaters whereby the fibrous material isspun in the housing and the interaction of teeth 13 and beaters 14 withthe roller teeth cause the fibrous material to become entangled andfelted to form a plurality of long tailed neps.

In use the fibrous material to be formed into long tailed neps is fed bya conveyer system or the like to the inlet 2 while the discharge door 5is in its closed position. The material is fed by the feed rollers 4into the housing 1. The speed of the feed rollers 4 being adjusted toensure an even flow and input time. The input time depends on the volumeof fibrous material being processed and is ideally over 10 to 20 secs.

The main rotor 11 is operated for a preselected time chosen to suit thetype of fibers and volume being processed. The processing time can befrom one minute upward. The particular type of long tailed neps to beproduced also has a bearing on the process time. While the rotor 11 isoperating with the door 5 closed the fibers are continuously caught bythe teeth on the rotor 11 and removed thereform by the worker roller 10.The remaining fibers are stripped from the worker 10 by being beatentherefrom by the beaters 14. At the end of the preselected processingtime the door 5 is opened and the rotation of the rotor 11 throws theformed long tailed neps through the door 5 into the cage 8.

If desired the processing can include the addition of a lubricant likewater to the housing. This water or lubricant can be sprayed into thehousing by a boom 17 which extends across the housing 1.

Thus by this invention there is provided an apparatus for producing inbulk long tailed neps.

A particular example of the invention has been described and it isenvisaged that improvements and modifications can take place withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

What we do claim and desire to obtain by Letters Patent of the U.S.is:
 1. An apparatus for producing, in bulk, long tailed neps, theapparatus including a housing supporting a main rotor which has on itsperiphery a plurality of teeth and beaters which cooperate with teethpositioned on a set of feed rollers mounted on the inner periphery ofthe housing, the housing having an intake chute and a closeabledischarge door, the arrangement being such that, in use, a synthetic ormaterial fibrous material fed to the intake chute, while the dischargedoor is closed, is fed into the housing by the feed rollers, the fibrousmaterial being removed by the beaters and teeth of the rotor from thefeed rollers, the fibrous material being spun in the housing and theinteraction between the teeth and the beaters of the main rotor and theteeth of the feed rollers causing the fibrous material to be entangledand felted to form a plurality of long tailed neps which are dischargedfrom the housing when the discharge door is opened.
 2. An apparatus asclaimed in claim 1 wherein the size of the long tailed neps depends onthe degree of mesh of the cooperating teeth and their relative spacing.3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein the feed rollers comprisea set of worker and stripper rollers.
 4. An apparatus as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the main rotor is adapted to remove the fibrous materialfrom the feed rollers by providing teeth and flexible beaters on theperiphery of the rotor, the teeth and beaters in operation ensure thatmost of the fibrous material on the worker roller is removed and formedin the housing into the long tailed neps.
 5. An apparatus as claimed inclaim 4 wherein the housing is cylindrical and is mounted with itslongitudinal axis horizontal.
 6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 5wherein the housing has mounted across its top a full width inlet havingthe intake chute at its base, the set of feed rollers being mounted inthe intake chute.
 7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 6 wherein the setof rollers comprise a pair of horizontally mounted stripper rollersbetween which is a single centrally mounted worker roller.
 8. Anapparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein the teeth on the rollers arehook shaped in side elevation and are mounted in parallel rows.
 9. Anapparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein the worker and stripper rollersare rotated at a shower speed relative to that of the main rotor.
 10. Anapparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein the main rotor includes inaddition to its plurality of teeth a series of beaters constructed froma flexible material.
 11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 8 wherein themain rotor rotates at a speed of approximately 900 rpm.